December 13th, 2030

Juliet stared at the Renegade, now shocked out of her mind. Complete and utter confusion swam through her veins and nothing short of horror filled the deep recesses of her mind. Not for herself, of course, but fear for David. For his well-being. For the fact that the Renegade had just claimed he was about to make war on the two of them.

How did he know about that?

Juliet was absolutely certain that no one knew where David was. They couldn’t, because if they did there would have been numerous attempts on his life. To date, there was only one, and until he regained full use of his senses Juliet couldn’t be certain that it even was an attack.

The fact that the Renegades of all people knew where he was frightened Juliet more than David’s present state. If they wanted something with him there was no possibility it was for something benevolent. According to all the evidence, the Renegades never did anything benevolent.

It was impossible that they knew! Hardly anyone knew that Juliet lived in the Morgue, and absolutely no one knew that she was even remotely linked to David. They were hermits, for God’s sake, not having contacted a single living soul for almost three years now.

The reasons for their seclusion were simple: people wanted David dead, and the world was over. There was no point in trying to get involved with the government the Centrals had established because it would inevitably fall flat on it face. So it had happened with the governments of a hundred ninety-three nations, so it would happen with this one.

Naturally they kept in touch with what was happening in the world⎯knowledge was power, after all, and to stay alive in this world you needed all the power you could get. Every week or so David would make his way down to Calmant in the dead of night to look at the splintered message board.

The two kept away from Calmant because it seemed an obvious target. In Juliet’s mind, any large colony of people all together in one place was a blinking light to anyone who wanted to take out their rage on people.

But that wasn’t the problem facing Juliet at the moment. What mattered was that she lay on a hill in the making with her gun pointed at a man who could quickly throw his knife right into her gut without blinking.

Perhaps she had been wrong about seclusion equating safety after all.

Juliet wondered for the briefest of moments if she should pull the trigger. She held in her hand a Springfield .38, if she wasn’t mistaken, the “Grin Splitter.” The gun could spew a bullet at a fifteen hundred feet per second, far quicker than the Renegade could even think about cracking a smile, much less actually do it.

Or so the manufacturer had boasted.

But killing him would gain her nothing. If anything, his allies would probably come looking for him a hundred strong and not leave until his murderer was brought to justice.

On the other hand, he’d already admitted he would return. And perhaps they didn’t keep tabs on their people as strictly as Juliet assumed⎯they weren’t some kind of spec ops group, after all.

So the question lingered. Pull the trigger or not?

An old song lyric blurred through Juliet’s head, some band a friend had tried to get her into. Do you believe in God written on a bullet? Say yes to pull the trigger. She had no idea what it meant, of course⎯music had become such a mindless contraption ever since the dawn of the century⎯but for some reason those words crashed into her mind and made her wonder who she was to be considering whether or not to take a life.

The Renegade hadn’t moved for the past minute now. Neither had Juliet. They stood facing each other in a minute-long, eternal showdown, both of them unwilling to make a move.

Juliet suddenly wondered why the man had stayed to fight. He’d achieved his goal⎯assuming his goal was to get into the Morgue and steal a worthless-looking tin contraption⎯yet he had stuck around long enough to try to gut Juliet like a fish. He would come back for David, he’d said. Why stick around in the first place, and why come back?

The reason for his appearance was simple: to kill David. In the very least, to punish him.

The reason for fighting Juliet wasn’t as obvious. Maybe he was just scouting, trying to see how many people really lived there. He knew David was inside obviously, but he hadn’t made any indication that he’d known Juliet was, as well. Maybe his original objective had been to lure David into the open, but instead he’d found Juliet.

So whatever they wanted with David was too important to risk simply waltzing in and demanding he came with them at gunpoint. Interesting.

His well-being crashed through Juliet’s mind for the second time since meeting the Renegade. He’d awoken hours ago and if he did so again without Juliet there she could have a complication upon returning.

A thin trail of pink light rimmed the tips of the trees that formed the forest-arena, signaling that morning would be arriving within the next thirty minutes. The Renegades were never seen during daylight, which made Juliet wonder exactly what the man standing in front of her was doing.

And then her wondering stopped.

The Renegade dropped the knife without so much as a word and turned swiftly, before Juliet could pull the trigger. When she did, the jungle had swallowed him whole, and not a single speck of his dark attire could be seen.

Juliet heaved herself forward, off the hill and to her feet. She was running within an instant, headed toward the very wall of green the Renegade had disappeared into.

He was gone. The hole in the green threshold he’d punched was obvious, but after that it was as if he’d simply vanished into thin air. There wasn’t any sign⎯not a bent branch or an awkward shrub⎯that he’d so much as set foot in the forest.

Juliet muttered a curse under her breath, then turned and picked the Renegade’s knife up off the ground. The black blade reflected her own image back to her for a moment before being firmly stuck into a nearby tree. So she’d remember where the encounter took place. At the rate the forest was growing, the place might be unrecognizable within the next few days.

Not seeing any other course of action, Juliet decided her excitement was over for the day. She picked up the rifle she’d left laying five feet away and jogged back to the Morgue, uncaring whether or not she made any noise.

She banked a right and headed down the hallway, and then she did have to take it slow in order to avoid the bodies again.

A group of rabbits was gnawing on one of them, a diseased corpse by the look of it.

She shot them dead where they stood, both to protect herself and to stop the spread of the Plague. Though technically it had died out with the last of the infected, the Plague could still be contracted by physical contact between a live specimen and dead corpse. If a human contracted it, they had a day to live. Animals had considerably less time.

The Plague worked similarly amongst most animals. David had begun a field study six days after the Plague had ended on a deer and squirrel he managed to trap, both infected. Instead of searching for food and water, however, like most mammals are designed to, it seemed as if their main functioning had been impaired and all they could think about was resting. Not sleep, necessarily, just conserving energy at all times. The deer showed some signs of concern about food and eventually, when the squirrel died from dehydration, it ate its smaller counterpart, but hours later it died from dehydration as well.

That caused a problem for human survival, but people had to adapt. Eventually the Plague had eradicated more than ninety percent of all mammal life that had survived the Accident, so people began relying more and more on fish and vegetation⎯both of which were affected by the Accident in a much different way. Foliage, including fruits and vegetables, grew much more rapidly than normal, and most fish seemed completely unaffected by the Plague or the effects of the Accident.

Those who weren’t necessarily skilled in the art of fish-catching had to rely on

trade or other services, to get their meat. Unfortunately, women had it the worst.

Fortunately for Juliet, she had been with David when the Accident occurred, and together they had tried to stop the end of the world. At one point she’d thought the entire thing was completely ridiculous; that was before the White House was attacked by sleeper agents. Four days later they were lying unconscious on a sidewalk under a bridge, alive just barely because of David’s paranoia.

According to most survivors, the planet had been destined to empty itself of life in the Fall of 2027. It was sheer luck that anyone had lived through it.

The rumor was that Canada was gone. Supposedly they’d been the first to be infected with the Plague, so they got the worst of it; it was unverifiable, of course, because instant communication had been one of the first commodities to go, but David and Juliet had gone to Winnipeg after the Accident to search for Miranda and didn’t find a single living soul.

The story was the same across the world, Juliet guessed. Without a means of quick communication for governments to direct their people, it had been every man for himself. After three days, when people finally figured out the Plague had mostly died out, they realized their systems were no longer viable. Juliet could only imagine what the fighting had been like in some of the Middle Eastern nations.

Then came the Centrals, America’s solution to the chaos around them. After they’d established themselves as the rulers of the country, they got in touch with the other half of the world and learned that their populations had decreased dramatically, as well.

But they were alive, around four hundred thousand strong globally. As was to be expected, Europe held together quite nicely after the Plague died out, but Russia didn’t fare so well. Apparently the Plague survived longer in colder climates. The Middle East, on the other hand, as well as Africa, hadn’t suffered as many casualties.

With sixty thousand people left on the Western Hemisphere alone, there were more than enough to repopulate⎯even though it would take a long time before full repopulation would occur⎯but not many were concerned with the continuity of human life. The world as they all had known it was gone, after all. Technology was nearly non-existent, as were structured lives and jobs. Why should they try to keep humanity alive if they were destined to die out?

Juliet disagreed with the notion entirely. They had survived for a reason, and as the only intelligent life in the known galaxy, they had to continue. Press on. She had once suggested to David that they should do their part to repopulate, but he insisted that any children he brought into this world would only be given the same disdain he’d achieved. They’d perhaps even be as hated as he was. It wasn’t because he didn’t want to, he’d assured her; he just didn’t think in the best interest of any children they would have. He was just set in his ways.

And it was because of his ways that Juliet was there, in the dark, wet, grimy elevator shaft of an abandoned hospital. She opened the space where they kept the rifle, laid it inside carefully and securely, then shut the drawer and grabbed the rope she’d hung on the nail earlier and the other end that dangled on the first floor no matter what. With one end she made a loop wide enough to slip her foot through, then began lifting herself.

The ascent up the vertical hallway was by far more strenuous and difficult than the descent. Juliet had to use all her strength just to heave herself a few inches up the shaft, and by the end of the vertical climb she would be drenched in sweat.

Juliet tugged hard again, now a full six inches off the ground, in an attempt to make it back to David, who was probably still sleeping soundly on the cot. She’d found him just outside the Morgue one day on the trail he usually took to reach Calmant, just lying there comatose. He’d been hit by a blunt object near his temple, as the blood streaming down his head had told her, but there was no one within a two-mile radius to blame. She assumed that whoever did it was trying to kill David, if it had even been someone. He could have hit his head on a rock, for all she knew.

Or someone was trying to kill him. At the very least, they were trying to get under his or Juliet’s skin.

Juliet had pondered the second option, but it didn’t make much sense. People who knew who he was wanted to kill him, not to scare him.

And then it smacked Juliet right in the face, as if the thought had been obvious the entire time.

The Renegades.

They could have been behind the entire tragedy⎯they could have been the ones to put him in the coma in the first place. Why not? After all, they’d proven themselves capable of doing it time and again, with every colonist they killed or kidnapped, never to be seen again.

But then there was the question of why. What would they gain out of beating David or trying to kill him? It couldn’t have been the metal contraption the Renegade had hauled away only minutes ago, otherwise they would’ve taken it back then. Maybe they thought David could stop them, or at the very least find out who they were.

It was possible, but that possibility brought about another question: what exactly was it they knew he could stop, and who were they really? And the space probe look-alike⎯what was it? Surely if the Renegades wanted it, it must have been quite important to them. They’d never taken anything before, and if it was important, there was no doubt that David had brought it to the Morgue. He would know.

There she had it: motive, however unclear it was. Now she needed to figure out the means.

That was the easy part. They could have interrogated a colonist from Calmant⎯a few, especially hunters, knew about the Morgue⎯and when they found it themselves, they’d probably just hidden in the endless sea of green and pounced.

Then that was it: means. The Renegades were the only people who could have possibly pulled it off. There were the Centrals, of course, but they had no motive that Juliet could think of.

Either way, the man she loved had been injured in some unknown way and fallen comatose before he could make it back to the Quarter. Juliet had tried to get an old medical monitor working, but it was broken far beyond repair. The medicine administrators, however, were still in peak condition, few as there were. With her small amount of medical training she was able to get a few operational to administer all the basic nutrients David needed to stay alive, but it was a miracle he’d awoken. They were almost out of meds and nutritional supplements.

His sudden awakening was inexplicable, but definitely the best thing Juliet had experienced since his confession of love for her. Despite the fact that he’d obviously been in a great deal of pain, he was coming back, and it brought Juliet a surge of renewed hope.

She thought all this as she edged her way past the fourth floor, sweating profusely. Only a few more feet to go; the thick hoodie wasn’t helping any despite the cold temperature.

Juliet yanked one last time, poking her head into the fifth floor. Their living room, so to speak. Letting go of the rope with one hand, she reached out and grabbed the cold floor of the Quarter. One final heave, and Juliet rolled clumsily into the room.

Upon first glance, nothing was disturbed. Everything was exactly as Juliet had left it, aside from the coat hanger which now lay on the concrete ground. Probably fell off after Juliet tore the hoodie from it in her hasty curiosity.

David was still sleeping soundly on the cot. Had been ever since Juliet had given him the sedative no doubt. He looked so peaceful as he lay there, caught up in the fantastic world of his own dreams, almost as if the attack had never even happened. The Accident, the ensuing chaos…he may well have been better off living in his tranquil dreams than in this nightmare.

And in an instant, that tranquility was devoured by insanity.

David bolted upright in the same time it took Juliet to blink, forcing her for a brief moment to wonder if it had really happened. Then he began sucking at air as if he’d been strangled in his sleep and Juliet knew this was no hallucination. She rushed to his side as he violently scrambled backwards off the cot and into the wall, rushing like he was desperately fleeing the devil himself and gasping for dear life. His eyes were alight with terror.

Juliet’s heart thundered as she slumped to David’s side and took his hand, though he fought vehemently against her grasp at first. Then in a split second the world seemed to normalize and David snapped out of whatever frenzy had taken hold of him. Slowly his breathing steadied, then the fire fled from his eyes. Juliet realized she was nearly as panicked as him at this outburst.

David put a hand to his head and swept his hair back, gaze still directed at the far wall. Juliet wasn’t sure whether or not to try and speak with him so she simply sat there dumbfounded. This was the longest he’d retained consciousness in nearly a month.

Then it seemed he finally regained his hold of reality and he looked to his side at Juliet. Without even saying a word she knew he was confused and terrified at whatever it was he’d been dreaming about this last month, but as soon as he saw her everything aside from affection disappeared. He’d always said love was the one thing that kept him sane during the events of the last few years, and Juliet knew in that moment more than ever how much he loved her.

“Juliet,” he managed, wheezing slightly from not using his vocal chords in nearly a month.

Juliet hardly even noticed the water dotting her eyes. “Hey,” she said softly. “How are you feeling?”

David coughed lightly, but nothing that wasn’t to be expected after such a long hiatus. “Tired. How long was I—?”

“Don’t worry about it right now. What matters is you’re back.”

“Juliet . . .” he started. Didn’t even need to finish his sentence. If Juliet knew David—and the case could be made that she knew him better than anyone ever had—he already had some idea of what had happened and was already steeped in guilt at having left her for such a long time. That had always been his Achilles’ heel.

“Do you remember what happened?”

“Not really,” he replied, breaking away from her gaze to allow his eyes a bit of rest. “I remember walking back to the Morgue, I heard something rustle and then . . . nothing. Just nightmares.”

“You were attacked. At least I think you were. I found you unconscious just outside the Morgue, no signs of a struggle, no trail to follow. Just you.”

David let out a soundless chuckle, really more of a rough exhale of breath, as if he’d almost expected such a thing. “How long have I been out?”

“Four weeks. You’ve been out cold ever since.”

His eyes widened and his brows raised in genuine surprise. He had probably already had the feeling that he’d been attacked, but he certainly hadn’t imagined it had put him out for a full month. There was as much curiosity in his blue eyes as there was concern. He never had taken his personal well-being very seriously, always more interested in how he’d managed to survive this long when his life was nothing but one catastrophe after another.

“Four weeks,” he said, unblinking, now gazing unfocused at the ground. “Must’ve been one hell of a punch. No idea who did it?”

“I don’t know,” she said simply. Her theory involving the Renegades could wait until she had something more to substantiate it with. “I found you lying out on the ground that day. Never heard anything, never saw any real signs of a struggle out there. Whoever did it—if anyone even did do it—they’re good.”

David took a moment to absorb the information. He knew as well as Juliet did that if the surrounding villages were any indication, very few people had learned to move silently through the jungle and not leave a single trace. The only reason either of them had managed it was because they had so much time to waste and an overabundance of paranoia. After three years of downtime Juliet was surprised they weren’t communicating telepathically.

“It doesn’t make sense,” David said, a frown on his face.

“I think for now we should just be happy that you’re awake,” Juliet replied, trying to get them off this line of discussion. She knew David’s mind and she knew that he would spend every spare second trying to solve this mystery.

“I’m just trying to figure out why anyone would want to attack me,” he continued. “I mean, there’s the fact that I’m me and everyone blames me for everything, but we’re ghosts in this place. No one even knows if I’m alive or not.”

Why Juliet didn’t bring up the Renegades and her encounter with the escaped lunatic earlier, she didn’t know. Perhaps it was because she didn’t want to go another grand crusade to save the world based on an educated guess. Perhaps it was because David had just woken up for the first time in a month and she simply didn’t want to ruin the happiness she felt in her chest. Whatever the reason, she sat on the edge of the cot in silence as David’s mind ran through a million different scenarios in which someone would want to assault him.

“I’m sorry, Juliet.”

Her brows arched. “Sorry for what?”

“For all this.” David motioned to the thin tubes connecting his arms to the IV drip then to the cot. “Everything you’ve had to do just to take care of me.”

“No,” Juliet whispered, grateful for the thought. She put her hand on his. “No, David, you can’t blame yourself for that.”

“Yeah but you know I'm going to anyway. Just thinking about you being alone here all that time watching over me—”

“It’s okay, David. I know you’d do the same thing for me.”

The look in his eyes at the end of her sentence said more than words could. “Thank you.”

Despite everything he had to worry about, at the forefront of David’s mind was nothing but concern for Juliet and appreciation for what she’d done for him. Though the man had his problems just like any other he always set them aside when it came to the woman he cared about. That was why Juliet loved him more than she’d once thought possible.

She pulled him in close for an embrace and he immediately whispered, “I love you, Juliet.”

“I love you.”